First Half Grade: C+
It's hard to call this team anything other than mediocre right now. The play of Rodney Stuckey has certainly made the loss of Chauncey Billups much easier for Pistons fans to swallow. If Detroit can figure out their rotation, preferably putting Rip back with the starters where he belongs and sending AI to the bench, this will be a dangerous team come playoff time.

I don't think it's as simple as benching AI/starting Rip or whoever. This team's issues seem to go a bit deeper than that. Our mediocrity has a lot more to do with coaching than anything else. This team certainly has talent; it's more the screwy rotations and inconsistent coaching that's the problem, imo.

I don't think it's as simple as benching AI/starting Rip or whoever. This team's issues seem to go a bit deeper than that. Our mediocrity has a lot more to do with coaching than anything else. This team certainly has talent; it's more the screwy rotations and inconsistent coaching that's the problem, imo.

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I disagree. BOTH stuckey and AI need 15sec ball dribbling to make their plays to happen and rarely they need teammates for their plays.

Yeah, both try to act like teammates on the court but it is more obligation than their instincts.

I disagree. BOTH stuckey and AI need 15sec ball dribbling to make their plays to happen and rarely they need teammates for their plays.

Yeah, both try to act like teammates on the court but it is more obligation than their instincts.

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I'm sure Stuck and AI aren't begging Curry to call for dude's coming off screens every time down the floor. THAT is what kills the clock. If it were up to Rodney and AI, they'd be hitting pick and rolls right after they get across half-court. It's the Rip-based halfcourt offense that has lead to being one of the slowest teams in the league each year for the last 7 years. LONG before Stuck/AI got here we've been playing the "PG dribbles for 15 seconds at the top of the key hoping for Rip to get open" game.

Unfortunately, Curry runs this play for Iverson as well, so we can never get away from it. And the play breaks down so often (where Rip/AI don't get open off the initial screens), that it leads to enough bailout shots from Rodney and Iverson to essentially negate MC from calling plays for them to just break down the defense early.

I really don't understand the need to run a play for a guy like Iverson that takes 10-15 seconds to setup, just to get him the ball at the 3 point line with no advantage on his defender.

I get the feeling Curry runs the snail-paced offense just to give some false impression that the Pistons still play defense by playing a low-possession game.